WOW, IT'S HEATING UP zing - Part 5 - Professional Composer Reacts to Hadestown

[@lights___out5328]

You mentioned the pit, but in the stage show, all the musicians are actually on stage! It really adds to the setting/atmosphere

[@felixhenson9926]

"It feels almost a little bit propagandistic..." does it now? Just a LITTLE BIT?! 😂

[@dolphin64575]

This song isn't just portraying Persephone living her life, it's how she changes Down Below in Hadestown vs Up Top. She's still a giver of gifts, a bringer of smiles, but up top she can give freely, while in Hadestown she has to ration and charge the workers. And don't forget she's numbing her pain with alcohol, Orpheus tells us "Lady Persephone's blinded by a river of wine, living in an oblivion".

[@lights___out5328]

Yeah, they're actually introducing the band :) So it changes every show and it's great. The band for this show is just INCREDIBLE (I personally love the trombone so much every time)

[@spandaumole]

Oh my gosh I'm excited for you to watch Tick Tick Boom, I love it and you'll bring such a unique perspective to it.

[@chrisv.h.2307]

LOVE this! Thanks so much! To clarify the setting of Our Lady, Persephone isn't singing to Orpheus (he hasn't been revealed in the underworld yet) but to the chorus of workers and the audience-- she's using liquor and morphine (and maybe flings with some of the lost souls of the workers) as an escape and a reminder of the joys of life above. The plot's kind of hard to follow the first time around because, like you said, each song vibes on a single idea. But I love hearing your insights as a trained musician and music historian! The music in the show is a celebration of American roots: folk, jazz, gospel...

[@felixhenson9926]

Yeah, Persephone THRIVES on being a giver, whether up above or down below she just rly wants to be in the centre of the room giving out all the good stuff to her followers. But yeah, she's a little less upbeat than she was in Livin' It Up On Top, she's disgruntled at Hades and I feel like she finds it less satisfying helping all these ppl whose problems were basically created by her husband.

[@chrisv.h.2307]

@@felixhenson9926 Excellent point! She has a verse offering hope to Eurydice mirroring Hades' threats/advice to Orpheus that isn't in the album version but has made its way into the show. I wish it was included!

[@felixhenson9926]

"Like some musicals like, I'm not gonna name any, but some musicals like Hamilton, like EPIC: The Musical, like I'm not gonna name any, like Wicked, but I'm not gonna name any..." 😂😂😂

[@aislingbannett4450]

I agree with what you said at the end about the musical not being afraid to not put a lot of plot and details into its songs and just luxuriate in the vibes of the music and one, maybe two story beats I feel like this is something that has been true since Hadestown's earliest incarnation as a folk concept album. It really did lean a lot on the "concept" aspects of the story rather than being meticulously plotted

[@lillymsf5946]

Amber Gray as Persephone, she's so friggen cool. You must watch her do 'Our Lady of the Underground' live

[@gazelleman08]

Patrick Page straight up hits a G1 in the beginning of 'Why We Build the Wall' and it's genuinely insane

[@PokeJoshNY]

you'll love tick tick boom, it's fantastic!

[@wendydarling5790]

Your mention of gospel reminded me of Big River, the Huck Finn musical by Roger Miller. Described as a "scintillating blend of bluegrass, gospel, and honky tonk." One of my favorites! Recommend checking it out. Just read there's a movie adaptation in the works. You also noted enjoyment of a show set in a different time period, so I must also recommend City of Angels, with a fabulous 1940s style score. I was once in a small production of it (as the alto in a quartet) and it was the hardest music I ever had to learn. Specifically the opening number, which is literally just nonsense. 😫